John Coffin Books in Order
Gwendoline Butler has written 33 books featuring John Coffin, published between 1956 and 2002. The first book is Receipt for Murder (1956) and the newest is Coffin Knows The Answer (2002). Publication order is the reading order below.
- Books
- 33
- Published
- 1956–2002
- Pages on record
- 5,203 in 23 of 33 books
- Reading time
- 87–130 hours
Reading time is an estimate, not a recorded figure: 5,203 pages at 300 words a page, read at 200–300 words a minute, covering the 23 of 33 titles with a page count on record.
John Coffin is a police detective in the crime novels of Gwendoline Butler, working London across a series of 33 books. Receipt for Murder (1956) opens the run and Coffin Knows The Answer (2002) closes it, at a median of 224 pages. The Coffin name carries many of the titles, among them Coffin in Oxford (1962), Coffin For Baby (1963) and Coffin In Malta (1964). Police procedural is the standing form, and readers looking up John Coffin books in order begin in 1956.
How many John Coffin books are there?
John Coffin appears in 33 books, released between 1956 and 2002.
John Coffin Books in Publication Order
The table lists all 33 John Coffin books in the order they were published, with the release year, the page count where one is on record, and how many independent book listings confirm each title. Catalogue data as of September 2026.
- 11956–1/4
- 21957–1/4
- 31958–1/4
- 41958–1/4
- 51959–1/4
- 61960–1/4
- 71961–1/4
- 819621921/4
- 919631921/4
- 1019642001/4
- 1119641921/4
- 1219662151/4
- 1319682881/4
- 1419692241/4
- 1519701921/4
- 1619732241/4
- 1719741731/4
- 181986–1/4
- 1919871741/4
- 2019881921/4
- 21Coffin In The Museum of Crime / Coffin in the Black MuseumJohn Coffin Mystery #211989 · 252 pages · confirmed 1/419892521/4
- 2219912501/4
- 2319912191/4
- 2419922561/4
- 251993–1/4
- 2619942501/4
- 2719962501/4
- 2819962531/4
- 2919972561/4
- 3019982561/4
- 3119992531/4
- 322000–1/4
- 3320022501/4
Do you have to read John Coffin books in order?
You should read the John Coffin books in publication order, the order of the numbered table above. The catalogue does not record whether each John Coffin book also stands alone.
Where to start with John Coffin
Start with Receipt for Murder (1956), the earliest published title.
What is the newest John Coffin book?
Coffin Knows The Answer (2002) is the newest John Coffin book released so far.
Is there a new John Coffin book coming?
No next John Coffin book is announced in the catalogue, which is a gap in the listings it merges rather than a sign that the run has ended.
John Coffin at a glance
- No recent titles
- The newest John Coffin title on record dates from 2002, 24 years ago. No later title is catalogued.
- Release pace
- John Coffin books have appeared about one a year on average.
- Length
- 5,203 pages across the 23 of 33 books with a recorded length, a median of 224 pages each.
- Busiest decade
- Most John Coffin books, 10 of 33, were published in the 1990s.
What the John Coffin books are about
24 of the 33 John Coffin books carry subject tags in Open Library's catalogue. The subjects below are the ones that recur across them, most frequent first: police is tagged on 18 of 24. The subjects are cataloguers’ headings, not a plot summary.
- Police 18 of 24 books
- Coffin, john (fictitious character) 15 of 24 books
- Mystery & detective, police procedural 14 of 24 books
- England 11 of 24 books
- London (England) 11 of 24 books
- Mystery & detective 4 of 24 books
- 1960s 3 of 24 books
- 1980s 3 of 24 books
- 1970s 2 of 24 books
- Fiction in English 2 of 24 books
More books by Gwendoline Butler
The author page linked below lists every book in publication order.
- Gwendoline Butler books in order 76 books
Series featuring John Coffin
The series linked below has its own reading-order page.
- John Coffin Mystery books in order 33 books